What reading programs that actually raise scores have in common

In an opinion piece for The 74, Chad Aldeman draws on the outlet's Bright Spots project, which compared literacy and poverty rates across 10,000 districts and 42,000 schools to identify over 2,000 schools beating the odds. He argues the common threads aren't flashy programs but strong leadership, protected core reading time, explicit foundational-skills instruction, and high expectations, citing specific district examples: Worcester County, Maryland, which shields reading blocks from interruption; Rockford, Illinois, which saw gains after switching to skill-based grouping; and Steubenville, Ohio, where nearly all third graders read proficiently. For policymakers, it's a reminder that basics done consistently, not novel interventions, drove the measured results.